Every Rose has Her Thorns
by AuDC Productions
Summary: As the fire slowly consumes Ravager's life and body, she recollects on one of her life's greatest lessons. Roses fall, but the thorns remain.


AuDC Productions Showcase: Rose Wilson/Ravager

Every Rose has Her Thorns

The building burned around her. Ceiling, floor, and walls alike fell apart all around. Her flesh was being cooked off of her bones, yet she did not scream. She did not cry. She simply stared at the moon from her vintage point.

What was Jake doing?

The question had always popped up at the strangest of times. She could be in the middle of an assassination and she always wondered what her older brother was up to. In a strange way, he was the person she wanted to beat the most. He was the only person that she felt that she could beat but never had the chance. He was always two steps ahead of her, and whenever she took those two steps, he put five more in-between. Her father had never been quite the same since Jake refused to leave with Slade. Then again, Jake would have never been able to join the League of Assassins. He was too soft. Too forgiving. It would have never worked out.

Her mind tuned out the crackling and booms around her as she focused on another subject. Her rich mother, Adeline. For the most part of her life, she had always been a daddy's girl, always running to Slade whenever she was hurt or could not have her way. Adeline was not a soft mother. She had rules and guidelines that everyone followed. Then again, being as militant as Adeline was, it could be expected. Yet, when it was convenient, Adeline chucked those rules out of the window. Which is how her father's eye got shot out…

"Do you love me now?"

The question left her lips before she could stop it. Jake has always been their mother's favorite. Everything he did Adeline swooned over. And strangely, she felt that Slade favored the more talented Jake over her. Every failure she has made was followed by a severe beating and Slade stating "Jake would've done it." The beatings got easier to deal with over time. The words, however, didn't.

Inhaling a cloud of smoke forced coughs to erupt from her lungs.

Why did she have to bear this alone? There were a few screams for help being heard, but no one had endured what she did. She couldn't remember how many times she had been shot or stabbed. And the replacements…

She shivered as a chill ran through her spine. First there was Robin, the Boy Wonder. She remembered how pleased her father was when he finally forced the former sidekick of Batman to join him. He was supposed to be everything Jake wasn't. He was supposed to be serious and not afraid to kill if necessary. And in a way, Slade had succeeded. But Robin had found a way to break the man's grasp and returned to the Teen Titans.

Bastard…

Then there was Tara. Oh, how she loathed the name Tara. The blonde was nothing more than a stowaway who just so happened to be geokinetic. And Tara loved the attention she received from Slade. He was like the father she never got to have. Tara did everything Slade asked her to, and some of it went beyond that of an apprenticeship or a daughter's role. The thoughts of Tara being with her father intimately… It was sickening.

Bitch…

Taking off her mask, she tried to remember better times in her life that did not involve killing or fighting to survive. There was only one thought that came to mind. Christmas. She was roughly four when her family had decided to go to the Alps for Christmas. She and Jake were able to throw snowballs at the other tourists and practice their stealth in sneaking away before being caught by their superior father. Adeline made hot cocoa for the family to enjoy around the fireplace. And Slade showed his children how to make a proper snowman. It was the perfect holiday. And the night ended with her being held by her humming mother who had promised her the greatest Christmas the following day.

Yet these thoughts had been repressed by her will for years. She was no longer a little girl making snow angels and being hyper off of hot chocolate. She was Ravager. She was one of the most promising assassins of all time. There was no time to be a normal weak little girl anymore.

"Rose?" The voice came out of nowhere and startled her.

It had been so long since she had even heard her name. Slade never called her by name. Ra's always called her "dear child". Lady Shiva referred to her as "apprentice". No one had called her by her first name in such a long time that it almost seemed foreign. And the voice that said it, it sent chills down her spine.

"M-Mom?" Despite only having one eye, her vision was not impaired. "Where are you?"

"My baby…" Rose growled. She was not a baby. She would not be babied either.

"Show yourself!" she demanded. "If this is a trick, I'll kill you!"

"It's no trick." Rose snapped her head right, seeing her mother standing in the midst of all the commotion. "My baby…"

"I'm not your damn baby!" Rose spat.

Adeline only gave her a saddened look. "Where did he go wrong? Your mind, it's so corrupted." Rose attempted to slide away as her mother's hands came onto her forehead. "Did you forget what we taught you Rose? Did you forget about the love that you have?"

They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you died. Rose knew that she was dying when she found herself seeing images of her life flash around her.

Suddenly she was six again and reliving the event that taught her the valuable lesson that every rose had its thorns.

* * *

><p>Kids didn't play with knives. Her mother constantly told her father that when he made Rose spar against Jake. But for some reason, six years old Rose loved them. They were shiny and whenever her parents seemed to twirl them for various reasons they fascinated her. Adeline would twirl a knife subconsciously while chopping vegetables while Slade did it to show Rose and Jake how to do it properly. And whenever they clashed, Rose thought it was one of the most beautiful sounds she has ever heard in her short lifespan.<p>

But they were dangerous. Even she knew that. From the various times that she had accidentally cut herself, she knew that knives were nothing to play with without the proper skills. Skills that she was slowly gaining while Jake seemed to be born with them.

She hated him for that.

Charging at him once more with the two blades in her hands- her father had referred to them as sai- she attempted to show her brother just how angry she was at his greatness. Though Jake, eight years of age, proved to be far greater than her.

"Rosie," he always used her pet name when they sparred. "Mom said to not get angry. Stay focus."

"No, no, no!" Rose argued swinging her blades at him.

Jake had gotten so good at dodging that he didn't pick up anything to protect him. He just danced around his younger sister as if she was nothing. And she was not nothing. She was something to be feared. The kids at their school, kindergarteners all the way to fifth graders, were afraid of Rose for a good reason. She could beat them all, Jake being the only exception.

"Why!" Missed swing. "Can't!" Another miss. "I!" Again she misses. "Hit!" Jake spins around her and pushes her forward. "You!"

By now she had grown past frustrated and tossed one of the knives towards her brother, not caring if it hit or not. But as she assumed, he simply arched his body towards the left, the knife burying itself in a tree in their rather large backyard.

"Okay Rose," Jake said. "I think that's enough for today. Let's go play at the park."

"No." the girl huffed, her pale cheeks shaded with a furious and exhausted red.

Jake sighed. "Rose, you get angry too easily. You're taking this too seriously."

"You're not serious enough!" Rose shot back, quoting her father. Jake only raised a brow. "Don't give me that look Jake. I should be able to hit you now. Why can't I?"

"Because," her brother said with a reassuring smile. "You train by swinging and throwing knives at me and I train by learning how to dodge them. So naturally I'll be good at dodging your strikes. I'm sure if I tried to hit you, you'd be able to counter."

Rose pouts but figures he has a small point. Jake never did strike back at her as she was trained by her mother how to counter blows from stronger opponents. But it didn't help that Jake never had to hit her to win. He just had to tire her out.

"So what do you say? Park?" Jake offers a second time.

Rose relents with a sigh, dropping the second knife and nodding her head. Jake extended a hand and took his younger sister's in his hand before leading her to the gate to leave their backyard.

There were things Rose loved about her home in New York. It was large. Whenever the kids at the playground picked on her small size, she would beat them and runaway to the backyard and make her own playground. Plus Jake would always join her despite having more friends than she did at the park.

Rose looked up at her brother as he led her across the street. Why did everyone like him so much? She found him to be a pain sometimes. Always joking and somehow finding new ways to make her mad. Whenever he picked up a book, it was something from their parents' library in the house and he always could understand it, despite Rose not being able to make heads or tails of the information being fed to her.

"Guess what?" Jake said to Rose.

"What?" Rose returned.

"If Mom and Dad are both home before seven," Jake said. "We'll have time to go to the go-kart track."

Rose pouts. "But I'm too small to race by myself."

"Don't worry. You can ride with me." Rose sighs. It was better than nothing.

"I wish I was eight." Rose states quietly.

Jake does not say anything as they continue the park. Rose looks up to see Jake staring ahead. She had seen that look before whenever he was trying to figure something out. Or whenever he fought against their dad during a spar.

"Jake," Jake's brows rose as he looked down at his sister. "Do you think I'll ever beat you?"

Jake smiled. "If you did that, then how do you expect me to protect you when something goes wrong?"

It was a trick question Rose figured. If she beat him then he would stop protecting her. If she continued to lose he would always be there. Maybe they could tie?

"Look," Jake said. "Some of the kids are there."

Rose groaned and stepped closer to Jake. She hated being six when most of them were eight and older. They always picked on her. Called her Princess Smurf and other names like that. Rose fought them all the time, but that only put her in trouble with her mother. Winning was never a problem. Hospitalizing the kids in the area was.

"Hey look who it is!"

"Little Rosie!"

Rose's face turned red as Jake took her to her favorite part of the playground; the swings.

"Hey freak! Why is your hair white?"

"It's so weird!"

"My mom says it's because her dad's a freak."

Jake shot the three boys a dirty look, one that made Rose smile a bit. When she fought alone, she got in trouble. Whenever she and Jake fought together, the trouble that her mother gave her was divided amongst them evenly. So if Jake was mad then she would get off somewhat free.

"Ignore them." Jake said. "They're just mad because they're families are bankrupt."

Rose smiled. She did not understand exactly what bankrupt was, but judging by two of the boys' reaction, it was a pretty good comeback. And with the knowledge of winning this impromptu joking contest, Rose began swinging.

"Guess… What…?" Rose said as she swung, her legs moving quickly in rhythm to catch up with her brother.

"What?" Jake asked.

"I… Can… Jump… Farther… Than… You!" Rose challenged.

"You're… On!" Jake replied.

Rose's smile widens. At six years old she only had one purpose in life and that was to be better than Jake at something. He was already the fastest, strongest, smartest, and better fighter between them. But Rose never stopped. She kept at it, day in and day out, so that she could improve constantly. Maybe one day when Jake had his guard down she would best him with these improvements. Afterwards they would settle with eating ice cream while her parents told her how proud they were of her and Jake would admit that she was better at something.

But then, what purpose would she have for living?

Rose launches herself out of the swing, momentarily enjoying the wind blowing past her and through her white hair. She lands on the ground skillfully before eying her brother fly into the air. She smiles when she notices that, while he got higher than she did, he was not going to surpass her mark. He lands on the ground with the skills of an Olympic acrobat before giving her a small frown.

"How'd you get that far?" Rose continues to smile at his question. "Seriously Rose, I think you cheated."

"I did not!" Rose shot back. "You just suck!"

Rose would never know that Jake purposely timed his jump so that she would win. He knew how badly she desired to beat him and so he was willing to lose in their less important competitions.

"Hey freak!" Rose turns her head in time for a small rock to knock against her forehead.

"Ow!" she shrieks in pain, her hand immediately going to nurse the pain.

The boys laughed. They always liked to see her in pain. She never understood why really. Rose was never one to talk a lot, so she did not taunt them during their first meeting. She never even tried to extend a hand of friendship towards them, finding it more comfortable to stay around her brother than making new friends.

So why did they hate her so much?

"Hey!" Jake called. Rose looked at her brother's angry expression. "I bet you can't do it again!"

What? Rose stared at her brother in horror. Did he want them to throw rocks at her? Was this his way of telling her that he hated her just as much as they did?

"I bet you I can!"

"Let's see who can hit her first!"

Rose wanted to run, but Jake stepped next to her. That look of focus was on his face now. She knew that he had some sort of plan in his head. A plan that only their parents were good enough to stop if they chose to. So when three rocks came hurling towards Rose, she did not flinch. She did not move. She did not fret.

And Jake caught them. All of them.

"Jake…" Rose was so astonished by the feat that she was now afraid of her brother.

"Is that it?" Jake taunted as he dropped the rocks. "My grandma has a better arm that that!"

The three opposing boys growled, flinging rocks every which way. They did not have good aim, Rose ponders, as rocks went flying everywhere. Those that would have hit Rose or Jake were swatted away by the boy protecting her. The person that would always protect her.

"Is it our turn yet?" Jake questioned when the rocks stopped flying. The three boys looked at one another before taking a step back. "Rosie, I think it's time we try your target practice."

Rose nods, ignoring the small trickle of blood coming down the bridge of her nose and picks up one of the rocks that Jake had caught earlier. She had no idea which one of those idiots hit her earlier, but if she had to guess, it was the slightly fat kid who was also their ringleader. And if she was wrong, then at least seeing one of them hurt would make her feel better.

The rock left her hand just as aimed as the knife had earlier. The only difference was that the chubby boy did not dodge like Jake had done in their backyard. His forehead was cracked with the rock, knocking him flat on his back. Rose doubts she was that strong to knock someone of his size off of his feet, but was satisfied with the results anyway.

"That hurt!" the boy cried as he sat up, his cut much larger than Rose's. "I'm telling!"

Rose went to chuck another rock, though Jake stopped her. He simply took the rock out and held her hand.

"Let's go home." Jake said soothingly.

Rose huffs. She was not satisfied. Those guys picked on her almost everyday and she only wanted to get even with them. Then she saw something that she would never forget.

"Your hand." Rose states quietly.

Jake curls his fingers together, closing his right hand to hide the cut on his palm. Rose knew that it came from protecting her. Yet, Jake only grins as if nothing was wrong. She knew it had to hurt. He was hit by a rock. Her head hurt so why would his hand be any different?

She stopped thinking about it as he led her away.

"Hey Jake?"

"Hmm?" Jake responds as he looks down at his sister.

"You're the best big brother ever." Rose said with a smile.

Jake only smirks. "I know."

Rose's smile grows wider. She didn't have a lot of friends and she didn't know a lot of people who would willingly go out of their way to protect her, but thankfully Jake fit in both categories. Sure he was annoying sometimes, but what older brother wasn't? When it came down to it he was there for her always.

Just like a big brother should.

The two would return home where their mother was and explained why Rose had a cut on her forehead and why Jake's hand was bleeding. And after Jake tried to explain that they were justified for their actions, Adeline finally interjected.

"You're just like your father."

Adeline, their mother, was not pleased. Rose knew some sort of punishment would come sooner or later, but for now the woman was focused on bandaging her children up. Currently she was wrapping Jake's hand up as he explained to her the situation.

"You should've left and came home." Adeline admonishes before finishing her wrap. "Your sister could have been seriously injured. More injured than she already is."

"I had it." Jake's words earned him a swift motherly bop to the forehead, one that was more embarrassing than painful.

Rose giggled at the hit, glad to know she could not receive one due to the cut on her forehead. For once it was Jake in trouble and her watching.

"There," Adeline said rising. "You two are good to go." The children were seconds from making a break to the backyard before Adeline continued. "But you're not going anywhere."

"Aw…" They groaned in unison.

"But Mom…" Jake added.

"No buts." Adeline said crossing her arms. "What have I told you about fighting others?"

"But they hit her first." Jake tried to again.

"They did," Adeline said. "But you and your sister could get into serious trouble using what we taught you outside of this house. Rose doesn't understand that yet, but you do Jake." Jake's eyes shoot to the floor in defeat. "I'm glad that you want to protect your sister, but sometimes you have to let the adults take care of things."

"Yes ma'am…"

Rose looked between her brother and mother. She did not understand why they could not use what they learned outside of their home. It was to win fights, right? So in her mind getting into a fight meant she could use all her knowledge of fighting. That would include what her mother and father taught her. Yet Jake somehow knew something she did not about fighting.

"Rose, step out so I can talk to your brother alone."

"Yes ma'am." Rose obediently says before eying Jake and leaves. She doubts he heard her apology as it was muttered under her breath as she walks out. She did not want Jake in trouble for saving her.

Rose went to her room and hops onto her bed. She sat on her bed because she knew that her mom would soon come in to talk to her as well. It always happened. Adeline never went through an entire day without sitting with Rose and giving her some lesson. Rose never fully paid attention to these lessons. They were just lessons on life that no six-years-old would ever deem important enough to learn or apply. Plus, some of them were the same from some time ago.

Rose sat there for hours until her father's voice was clearly heard throughout the house.

"Rose, come here," Now Rose knew she was in trouble. Again, she did not understand why. Those boys were the ones throwing rocks at her for no good reason. She and Jake just defended her.

Either way, Rose found herself walking into the family room where Slade sat on the couch, Jake standing in front of their father, and Adeline seated next to Slade with her eyes solely on Jake's hand. Rose quietly crept next to her brother as he was the only one in the room not mad at her, or at least she thought.

"Look at this," Slade said holding Jake's injured hand to Rose. "Do you see what that is?"

Rose's brows creased. "A cut?"

She was not the type to use the words "booboo" or an "owie". She knew the difference between a cut and a bruise.

Slade chuckles. "Yes, it is a cut. But do you know why it's there?"

Rose was now more confused than the time Jake tried to explain to her how wizards magically placed babies inside of mothers.

"Because he got hit by a rock?" Rose guesses.

"Rose, sweetie," Adeline speaks. "Why did he get hit by a rock?"

"Because the bullies threw them?" Rose, again, ponders.

"He got them because he was protecting you." Slade finally answers his own question. "These hands of your brothers are your thorns Rose. They protect you whenever you cannot. Do you see that?" Rose looks as Jake's cut palm and nods slightly, completely lying as she did not understand the point. "No matter who is throwing rocks at you, so long as you stick with your brother, he will always catch them."

"But that does not mean that you have the right to throw them back. Not all the time." Adeline adds.

"Which is why we'll teach you two some of our more secret moves," Slade said. "Like the move I used to use on my little brother. The unbeatable, relentless, ruthless…" Slade's words trailed off, forcing his kids to lean forward in anticipation. "Atomic wedgie."

"Wha…?"

Rose's confusion on her face sent her parents into a fit of laughter as the girl tried to comprehend how something as so small as a wedgie could defeat a knife-wielding ninja. But Rose's puzzled expression slowly disappears when Jake joins in the laughter and soon the girl giggles herself.

* * *

><p>That lesson here was loud and clear for the little girl. No matter how bad the situation was or how much she hated to admit it, her older brother would always be there to protect her. And in the midst of protecting her he would be able to do amazing feats like catch rocks flying at her from three annoying bullies.<p>

Yet he was not here now…

Ravager listened to the cackling flames around her, mocking her for even having such a foolish memory at this time. Yet there was somewhat a familiarity about the heat around her. It was the familiar warmth that came from her mother's embrace years ago, almost as if the woman was going to be the one to walk Rose into the afterlife.

The assassin chokes at the thought. She was going to die. And while that was not a big problem to her (death was ironically a part of life), the thought that it was her fault for not sticking by her older brother that put her in this predicament seemed to haunt her now. She, Ravager, was still very dependent on her big brother despite having being trained by the best of the best. She could kill armies of men by herself and yet still relied on one person to catch the rocks for her. Those metaphorical rocks that the bully known as life continued to throw at her never ceased to miss its mark unless Jake was there to catch and block them for her.

And now this.

"Ravager!" Rose quickly ends the tear from falling without even moving her hands. Her perfected control over her body's needs and functions grew daily and destroying a tear was practically child's play for her.

Ravager looked at the beaten teen that stood a few feet away from her, gloved hand extended to her.

"Come on, take my hand!" The Boy Wonder called out to her. In his left hand was a small crying boy about the age of three from looks alone. "I have to get you out of here! The building isn't going to stand for long!"

"No!" Ravager calls back. "Go away!"

Robin grunts in frustration. "This isn't the time or place to be stubborn! Take my hand!"

Ravager saw her opponent step towards her and kicked at him, hitting him square in his shin. Robin makes a small sound of pain before stepping away.

"I can't fight you with a kid in my hands," Robin said. "But I will come back. I promise."

Rose removes her eye patch as she watches the hero carry the boy out of the burning embassy in Gotham City. She casts a look at the moon once more.

"Close your eyes Rose," her mother's voice nearly sings to her in a voice that only a loving mother can have. "It'll all be over soon. I promise."

"He promised Mom." Rose sniffles as she closes her eye. "He promised me!"

"Roses may fall," Adeline preached to her daughter. "But the thorns will remain. He will avenge you. I swear it."

Rose took in a deep breath, ready to accept the death that was about to happen. She originally thought that her final moment would be recollected her bout with her uncle years ago which led to her having one eye, her mother shooting her father's eye out, and their divorce. However, it was somehow directed to the one life lesson that she actually understood but chose to ignore. So long as she was near Jake, nothing too drastic could ever happen to her. She was Rose and he was her thorns.

And he would remain to prick and stab that poor bastards that did this to her.

* * *

><p>Weeks later, Robin would be in action once again against Rose's so-called thorns. At the time, he did not know how or when said "thorns" became so dangerous. All he did know was that his team was incapacitated. Raven was completely knocked out. Beast Boy and Speedy were bound together by a giant red X. Cyborg was beaten and then disassembled. Bumblebee was brutally beaten, as well as Argent and Aqualad. Kid Flash was in no better condition, hanging from a street light by a chain wrapped around a sprained ankle. Mas y Menos were unaccounted for, though Robin had seen Red X simply toss a depowered Hotspot into the sewers.<p>

Red X had divided and conquered them all and now was standing over a dangling Robin with such an air of rage that it could have been used to summon Trigon right there on the spot. But instead of doing such a thing, the thief merely stalks up to the edge of the roof where Robin was holding on for his life and muttered something that would pave out the rest of their lives.

"Now that I have you here, I can finally end this."

And thus Rose, even after death, was able to beat the Teen Titans after all. All it took was a little help from her big brother.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Here is Rose's showcase chapter which actually ends during the prologue of Shattered Persona. Next chapter will be posted on New Year's Eve with a special ending. Here's how that will work. I will answer one major spoiler question that you guys want to know, except for who Aliyah's mother is and who Jake marries. Anything else from if the Joker dies to how Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond) will be introduced can be answered. All you have to do is ask the question through review or PM (preferably the latter) and I will be able to pick out the one asked for the most. Again, the next chapter will be out in 7 days so the questions need to be asked prior to then. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays and I'll catch you later. Bye.


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